A Night Off
by sittingoverheredreaming
Summary: General Organa give Finn permission to take Rey on a date off-planet... on the condition that C-3PO rides along.


Rey is always early for meals. Normally it kills Finn a little to see her waiting, followed by the spark of surprise when food is actually put on her tray. Today, though, he can use this habit to his advantage.

"Hey."

Deep weariness shows in her eyes, but her smile is bright. "Hey."

"I, uh, I had a question for you." Finn pauses, but her only response is to nod with raised eyebrows. "Are you busy tomorrow night? I mean, you're busy every night, but I mean with anything out of the ordinary. Any non-Jedi stuff going on? You have, I dunno, fun plans?"

To her credit, she doesn't laugh, though it's clear she's holding it back. "What are you really asking me?"

"Well. I got permission from the general to take you off planet for a few hours. Not far, just into orbit for… for a little break."

"A break." She has a harder time keeping down the laughter. "Are you sure that's the right word?"

Sometimes Finn wonders if these moments are Force-enhanced perception, or if he's really that transparent. The general had caught on to the same thing.

"I think Rey could use a break, is all," he'd said. "You know, a few hours without the fate of the galaxy on her shoulders."

The General had looked up from a hologram of the latest battle plan. The glow only added to her wry expression. "If you want something, Finn, honesty is the best start."

"I am being honest. I believe that, wholeheartedly, you can Force-read my mind if you need to. But I also…"

"Want to have a date." Leia laughed, one of the few genuine smiles Finn had ever seen on her face. "The First Order could destroy us at any turn, and you want to go on a date."

"Well." It did sound ridiculous when put like that.

"I'm not saying no. I remember what it's like in your shoes, believe it or not. But there will be regulations. Not too far out, and shields up the whole time. And…" Her smile took on an edge Finn wasn't sure he liked. "I'm going to send a droid with you."

Now Rey looks at him with some of that same wryness. "It, uh. It could be a date. If you wanted. I thought that we could maybe have dinner, something a little better than what they serve here." The General had okayed that, told him who and how to ask for high quality goods.

"I've never been on a date before." Her voice goes soft; she's not teasing now.

Finn smiles. "Neither have I."

"Tomorrow, you said?"

"Yeah. The General said we could take the Falcon." Demanded, really. "My droid knows that ship well," she'd said. "He'll take good care of you in it."

...

"Oh goodness." C-3PO fluttered behind them in the cockpit. "Back in the Falcon after all these years. I can hardly believe it."

Finn very pointedly does not look back at the droid. Rey bites back laughter as she pulls the ship off the ground. She has dressed in a tunic she must have borrowed from someone, though Finn is unsure who. The green fabric gathers around her shoulders and swoops below her collarbone in a way that keeps drawing Finn's eye.

"Do be careful. This ship is quite old, you know."

Rey glances over at Finn. There is an unmistakable glint in her eye. "Hold on, 3PO." She maneuvers the Falcon in a fast but graceful loop.

"Oh my. I truly must advise against such-"

"Would you like to drive?"

"Miss Rey, you should must know I am not a pilot droid."

"And _you_ must know that I'm a pilot." Her smile threatens more complicated flight paths.

"I can see why the princess likes you. You are just like Han Solo."

Finn turns then. "3PO. The General said you would prepare the food."

"Oh yes, of course, Master Finn. How could I be so forgetful? Perhaps there is a loose circuit, I will have to get checked when we land." He shuffles off.

Finn puts a hand over Rey's on the controls. She laces her fingers into his briefly as they ascend. C-3PO does not return until they have settled into orbit.

"I have served your dinner in the main hold. If we have reached a stable altitude, I suggest going while it is still hot."

He follows them out to where they sit on the curved couch around the table. "I do hope this presentation is satisfactory."

"Yeah," Finn says, trying to convey C-3PO can go without saying it in so many words. "It's great."

C-3PO stands and watches as they take their first bites.

"3PO," Rey says. "Could you go check the cockpit? I think I may have left some valves in the wrong position."

"Oh my. That would be quite disastrous. I will go immediately."

Finn slumps his shoulders as soon as the droid is out of sight. "I have to wonder if the General sent him for a laugh rather than our safety."

"It was likely both." Rey smiled and scooted closer to him. "But we're here, and it's very nice."

"You think so?"

"I do." She puts down her fork to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

It is none too soon- as soon as she picks it back up, C-3PO comes shambling back in. "Miss Rey, I do believe you sent me on a wild goose chase. I do not appreciate being teased in such a manner."

She stifles a snort of laughter.

"Since you're up, 3PO, could you check the shields? The General is very concerned about them staying up."

"Oh yes, Master Finn. It would not due to be careless."

"So," Rey says once he is gone.

"So."

"What would be a date-y thing to say right now?"

Finn chuckled. "I should have asked Poe about that. He would know." He glances over at her. "You, uh, look very nice though."

A little color rises in her cheeks. "I've never worn anything like this. It feels strange." She runs her eyes over him. "You look nice as well."

He had asked Poe what to wear, and had been given picks from his closet. Poe had insisted he wear a stark white shirt that opened at the collar. From the way Rey looks at Finn, he assumes it was indeed the right choice. He swallows hard. "Rey…"

"You will be pleased to know the shields are functioning fully. Everything is in perfect working order."

Finn groans.

"Is something wrong, Master Finn?"

"No, nope. Everything's fine." Rey puts a hand on his knee beneath the table. He takes a very large bite of food to keep from reacting.

"Did General Organa give you any instructions beyond serving dinner?" she asks between bites.

"Of course, Miss Rey. I am here to enforce her parameters of this outing. If you were to take this ship further than specified I would inform her immediately."

"Is that all?"

"There were no further instructions."

"Wouldn't it be best for you to watch the cockpit, then? That would be the best place to sure we don't fly any further."

"I see the logic in that suggestion."

"That was very clever."

"Yes," Rey says, pushing their mostly empty plates to the far side of the table. Finn is confused for a moment, Rey has never left so much of a drop of food uneaten. But then she turns and climbs to straddle him, back against the table.

"He's going to come back."

"Yes," Rey says, "but I'm not sure I care." She leans down to kiss him, and he is not sure he cares either. One of her hands cups the back of his head. The other slips along the v of his collar. In a small moment of daring, he slides his hands beneath her tunic, along her back and waist. She gasps and smiles against his mouth. Her body presses closer to his. He breaks from her mouth and kisses his way down her neck, reveling in the way her fingers press harder into his skin the further he goes. She reaches down to the bottom of his shirt and pulls it up, and-

"It occurs to me that you might- oh dear. Oh my." C-3PO turns around in embarrassment. "Princess Leia is going to be so disappointed in me, thirty years and I haven't learned. You want to be alone. I do apologize for the interruption."

They break down laughing against each other. "That takes care of that then," Finn says. "I didn't think it would be quite that easy."

"Neither did I. But we might as well take advantage of it." She grabs the edge of his shirt again.

Finn rises to the challenge in her eyes. "Yeah, we should."


End file.
